


New Unlife

by I_Gave_You_Fair_Warning



Series: Adopted Prompts [7]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Almost Fluff, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Communication, Gen, Human Anakin, NO DEATH, Safe to Read, Vampire Obi-Wan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-14 02:16:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14125950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Gave_You_Fair_Warning/pseuds/I_Gave_You_Fair_Warning
Summary: Qui-Gon was terribly hurt on Naboo, and Ani knows he's still with the living, just... different now. He needs Mister Obi-Wan to explain what's happening.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Another prompt Moddy released on her tumblr to find a new home. Thank you, prompter and Moddy both!
> 
> Original Prompt:
> 
> "Vampire Obi-Wan, Human Qui-Gon. Qui finally gives in and lets Obi Turn him after being run through by Maul. Obi now has a tiny human padawan and a freshly-turned former-Master fledgling to manage."

 

Obi-Wan slumped against the now-closed door to Qui-Gon's room, sliding down to the floor, letting his feet sprawl and his focus blur.

It took too much effort to actually  _look_ at something right now.

He leaned his head gingerly back to rest on the door and sighed.

_Finally_ Qui-Gon had fallen asleep.

“Mister Obi-Wan, Sir?”

Obi-Wan forced his eyes to focus on the small face peering down at him.

“Yes, Anakin, what can I do for you?” he asked, carefully making his voice kind in spite of wanting to just crash and sleep for a week.

“I don't understand what happened to him.”

Obi-Wan gave a nod and was about to speak when the little one continued.

“There are myths on Tatooine about... the Fang People who drink blood.”  
_Oh._

“Would you feel safer if you stayed with someone else tonight, Ani?” Obi-Wan asked.

The child considered it for a long moment, eyeing him. “I don't think you're going to hurt me. I've got a good feeling about you. Mom always says that I shouldn't believe in superstition. I thought that meant Fang People don't exist, but  _you_ have fangs. And you bit Mister Qui-Gon.”

Obi-Wan really wished he hadn't seen that.

“Would you like me to tell you about me, and about what Qui-Gon is going through?”

Anakin nodded.

“Alright.” Obi-Wan pulled himself up to sit a little straighter, since his lower back didn't like the slumped posture. “We call ourselves pires, Anakin, the way you call yourself human, or another might call themselves a Rodian. We grow at a much, much slower rate than many other species, humans included. While for ease of classwork I'm considered roughly twenty-five, and I look that age, I have been with Qui-Gon for thirty years.”

Anakin's eyes widened. “ _Really_ ?” 

“Really. I was bitten as a baby, and my parents no longer wanted me. They were afraid of me. I was sent to the Order to be destroyed.”

A wounded noise escaped the nine-year-old. “But they didn't.”

“No, they didn't. They gave me a home. And a very patient clan mother kept watch over me long after the others who came in at the same time as me aged out. Again and again. It's been a long journey, Anakin. I can't remember  _not_ being a pire. The venom in the fang changed my DNA. I'm not the same species anymore, though I started out human. Because of this, we are always very careful of my teeth. It's important to not accidentally scratch anyone with them.”

“Can you taste the poison?”

That wasn't a question he'd expected. “Not really. No.”

“Did it hurt Qui-Gon when you bit him?”

Obi-Wan tried not to flinch at the memory. “Yes. The transformation hurts very much. So much is changing, and the body doesn't know how to cope. His skin will be cool to the touch, we'll need to be careful about his teeth, and he's going to be rather grumpy and very hungry for the first few weeks.”

“Hungry for blood.”

“Yes,” Obi-Wan hedged, “but we have a substitute we make here. There's plenty. He won't end up hungry enough to hurt you. You have my word. And as he adjusts, he will learn self-control.”

Anakin stared down at his hands. “He was going to die, wasn't he. The Sith hurt him that bad.”

“Yes.” Obi-Wan felt his throat close up and tears sting his eyes. “It was very close. I asked him to let me turn him, so he could stay with us, but if he had said no, I would have... he would have... he'd be gone.”  
A keen blue gaze snapped up to meet Obi-Wan's. “You wouldn't have forced him?”

“No. No, Anakin. It's his body, his life. He had the right to decide if it was time to let it go or not.”

“And if he'd been unconscious and couldn't say either way?”  
“Thank the Force that didn't happen,” Obi-Wan choked, “because he left standing orders for how such injuries were to be handled. And specifically said not to bring him back that way.”

Anakin fell silent for a moment before murmuring, voice small, “I'm really glad he changed his mind.”

“Me too.” A tear slipped free and spilled down Obi-Wan's nose.

And then he had an armful of Padawan as Anakin snuggled close and hugged him.

Startled, Obi-Wan's arms came up to hold him in return.

“Thirty years is a long time. You're not going to leave, now that I'm his apprentice, right?”  
“No,” Obi-Wan murmured back. “I'm not going very far.”

The newborn pire was going to need some serious tending and watching, and there was a tiny human needing to be cared for and taught.

He had no idea how he was going to manage both until Qui-Gon could take back the responsibilities  _he'd_ volunteered for, but until he could, Obi-Wan would take care of them both.

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

Obi-Wan, barely able to keep his eyes open, held Qui-Gon's hair back from his face as the older pire gagged into the toilet again.

“How much longer?” the newly-turned groaned, eyes puffy, pale skin streaked with red lines.

Obi-Wan passed him a damp washcloth, and managed an exhausted smile. “The worst will soon be passed.”

“Why does it hurt so much?” Qui-Gon asked again, for the umpteenth time.

“You died, Master,” Obi-Wan murmured. “Coming back isn't easy, let alone coming back in another form. Your poor body needs some compassion right now. Be gentle with it, and it will regain its strength.”

Movement in the door and the scent of fresh, pulsing blood brought Obi-Wan's head up and around to find Anakin, wrapped in his night tunic and his little stubby braid sticking out, squinting into the light-filled refresher.

“Can I help?” he asked.

Qui-Gon's nostrils flared and his gaze snapped around. Obi-Wan held on to his hair and refused to let go, even when the older man whined with pain.

“Do you remember how to make the tea?”

Anakin had wanted to be shown how earlier— back when it was day _last,_ and not this un _Forcely-_ early hour— and instead of groaning and begging for another time, Obi-Wan had consented.

Anakin had been a swift learner, and it hadn't really taken  _that_ much longer.

An eager, cautious smile lit his little face now. “Yeah. Should I do that?”

“Yes please, and bring a cup for Qui-Gon.”

A choked grunt of displeasure voiced that it wasn't  _tea_ the Jedi Master wanted, but Anakin was already out the door and on his way.

Obi-Wan let go of his deathgrip on Qui-Gon's hair and gently smoothed the silvering locks back, raking his fingers through the damp tresses. “You're going to be alright,” he promised.

Eventually.

Until then...

Force grant them all  _sleep._

 

 


End file.
